Crafting the guitars

The following sequence of photographs takes you through some of the construction stages of a Kinkade guitar, allowing you to see the fantastic craftsmanship and care involved.

The Process

1) Here is a finished soundboard. Jonny is wrapping it with his knuckles and listening to the tonal response. Notice the carefully carved scalloped braces.

2) An Indian Rosewood back. The 4 transverse braces hold the structure into a slightly domed shape for better sound projection. The Spruce strip up the middle reinforces the centre join.

3) Indian Rosewood sides assembly, with Mahogany top and bottom blocks. The Spruce side struts serve as a precaution against damage. The kerfings increase the gluing surface for attachment of the soundboard and back.

4) The sides are in the mould and Jonny is checking the fit of the soundboard prior to gluing.

5) This body has been bound in Holly. Jonny is using a scraper to trim the bindings flush to the body. The next job will be to attach the neck itself.

6) Jonny prefers to use the traditional tapered dovetail joint to join the neck to the body. It has great integral strength and an ability to transmit energy from the neck to body highly efficiently. An adjustable truss rod is fitted into the neck. It will be accessed through the soundhole, allowing the guitar to be set up with the exact playing action to suit an individual player and their given style.

7) Hardest quality Dutch fret wire is installed totally by hand. Each fret is tapped in oversize and then trimmed back. They are then carefully dressed and polished to absolute perfection.

8) The bridge is glued onto the soundboard after the finish has been applied, cured and polished.

Jonny's techniques

A more detailed insight into Jonny’s techniques and methods of guitar making can be gleaned by reading his cunningly titled book: ‘How to Build Your Own Acoustic Guitar’ (See Main Menu Book for details)

The above photographs have all been taken from the Book, with kind permission of Quarto publishers.